Some Native American tribes referred to the U.S. cavalry as “long knives” because they carried swords or sabers. The modern version of a long knife is a politician who claims to represent a certain collection of principles but violates them time after time. He or she is guilty of knifing the gullible constituents in the back. To be candid the mortal wounds are not always the fault of the weasel-like politician. Sometimes the voters just “assume” that a candidate accepts their point of view…

Today as you go about your tasks, you are living history. Today is Tomorrow’s history and next Century’s ancient history. Perhaps if you are caught up in a momentous event today, you may become a footnote in history. There is a methodology for historical analysis called the new social history which attempts to view history through the eyes and sensations of ordinary people. Their primary criticism of traditional historical methods is that they focus too often on “great leaders and…

You are probably familiar with the fable about the Emperor’s New Clothes. If we were writing a story about today’s gallant knights who are running for office to save our nation, we would probably note that they’re wearing tin-foil armor. They are clothed with the fragile protection of expediency that they expect us to assume is principle.  Every candidate from every party or movement is to some degree a flawed warrior. For those of us who must choose our standard bearer, we are faced with…

As the proud (very, very proud) grandfather of 3 (soon to be 4) wonderful young people and children, one of my greatest concerns is what type of legacy I will leave for them. I don’t mean legacy in the way that most career politicians use the term….a notable political achievement. No, the legacy that I seek is the one that is firmly implanted on their hearts and their characters. Each of them has unique talents and abilities that equip them well for becoming producers and contributors as…

That Means NO to your Parties & your Candidates !

The ruling class elites and their redheaded step-children the GOP have fought over my vote for 145 years and both of you have promised everything and delivered nothing but failure and economic slavery to your bloated leviathan called the U.S. Government.

You see I am that "Conservative" Independent voter that you 2 are fighting over, that was once a very loyal "Blue Dog"…

In the rotunda of my mind there is a founding “Hall of Heroes.” They are people whose lives, letters and loyalty have inspired me. A few of my heroes are people of whom you’re unaware, but others are firmly ensconced in our nation’s pantheon of greatness. The more famous ones are those I will discuss today. Thanks to Wikipedia for the background and details.

Patrick Henry…

…(May 29, 1736 – June 6, 1799) was an orator and politician who led the…

Pundits have characterized current social and political discourse as “polarizing.” They claim that individuals and groups with varying positions have “dug in” and are stubbornly promoting their positions and not allowing for civil disagreement or “progress” on vexing issues. They seem to believe that every problem has a solution and every disagreement can be settled by consensus. My difficulty with that observation is that their “solutions” and their “answers” usually involve the growth of…

Many of our citizens in these United States of America fear nothing. It’s not because they are especially courageous or totally unaware. No, it’s because many now fear our government, and government, by extended definition, is nothing. Despite the thousands of granite buildings with marble floors and the legions of munchkin-like bureaucrats scurrying through the halls, the government is nothing more than an idea….a concept….a construct….a fabrication created from the minds of men. It is an…

In football a “counter play” is one where the offense feints as if it is running the ball to one side but actually hands it to a running back that goes to the other or counter side. The defensive players are fooled into reacting for the wrong point of attack thus leaving them out of position and vulnerable at the real location of the offense’s focus. It’s just like politics in America….too many feints, fakes and wrong-way moves while the citizens play defense. In their public pronouncements…

Many of you readers already know that I am a “reformed” Republican. For 42 years I was an active member of the GOP. I served on the County Central Committee, as a campaign chairman for several candidates and as an elected State Representative in the Ohio General Assembly. My first memorable political activity was as a six-year old handing out “I Like Ike” buttons in front of Groman’s Market in Tiffin, Ohio. Dwight D. Eisenhower gained the 1952 Presidential nomination by defeating an Ohioan,…

Each of the dinosaur political parties claims to promote a “big tent” philosophy.  Following their primary and caucus battles for the nomination, they scramble to the “center” to appeal to a broad sector of the American electorate. The flaming lefty Democrats attempt to appear more sane and reasonable, and the great Republican Establishment wants to be viewed as more “compassionate” and “inclusive.” If they were selling breakfast cereal, The Federal Trade Commission would cite them both for…

Roughly 25% of self-professed Christians in the United States attend independent Bible-believing churches. They are categorized as Independent because they do not belong to a formal denominational structure. Some with common beliefs and practices may join in loose alliances with similar churches, but each local church retains its autonomy and manages its affairs in a biblical fashion. In addition some 76% of Americans claim to be Christian so that would suggest that about 19% of the U.S.…

A righteous person or cause is morally upright, virtuous and wholly justifiable. A pious person or cause is dedicated to duty. Certainly some element of piety is desirable among our people, our clerics and our political leaders. There should be a strong commitment to duty among them, but if they do not seek righteous goals, their piety is squandered on unworthy goals. Shifting from the theological to the political context, we can observe that pious politicians are dedicated to their visions…

If you watch television or listen to radio, you are familiar with the disclaimers that follow pharmaceutical ads, automobile ads and banking commercials. The pharma spots include side effects and warnings about the impact of the drug. Automotive commercials inform you about the terms, down payments and warranty issues. The banking and occasional ads for investment services warn of minimum deposits and note which federal agency insures you from total loss. The disclaimers substitute for the…

All levels of government should be required to join “Slim Fast” because most of them operate “Half Fast.” The size and intrusiveness of our governments at all levels has been a consistent theme in these columns, but how is this massive monstrosity fueled? What feeds it? Obviously the taxpayers and compliant lenders are the greatest sources for satisfying the voracious appetite of government. Don’t overlook the licenses, fees and fines the various agencies levy….seemingly arbitrarily. If you…

Back in the day when I was a young lad on the farm we would occasionally have the veterinarian palpate some of our cows. He would check them for pregnancy. We did have times and dates of the cows’ assignations with the bull or with the A.I. technician from the Northern Ohio Breeders Association, but after a time we would want to know if certain members of the herd had “took.” If the doc failed to find any evidence of a tiny calf forming, we would have to rebreed the cow or re-introduce her…

Nearby my home here in Northwest Ohio are two little towns that have been tempting me to use them metaphorically. There are other towns in the region that are phenomenal candidates for illustrative purposes, but these two are a mere 15 miles apart and are perfect for a reflective metaphor. Liberty Center and Whitehouse are ideal settings for an apocryphal look at our current situation in the United States of America. For those of you familiar with our little corner of the world, the nation…

There was a rumor flying around the agricultural community (that would be farming community) that the Federal EPA was implementing a new set of rules and regulations governing “dust.” It was speculated that the new guidelines would negatively and severely impact production agriculture and ancillary vendor and service industries. Following the outcry that reverberated through the U.S. agricultural sector, various elected officials, Cabinet Secretaries, agency directors and bureaucrats…

The Match is the spark that begins it all. It’s a mere tiny flicker of flame that by itself can do little good or harm. It must be struck with force against an abrasive resistance and its little light should be coaxed into a glimmering yellow filled with promise and potential. Left to its own devices the match will weaken and disintegrate, but when treated harshly and challenged, the little sulfur tipped stick springs to its own defense….lashing and lunging toward the abuser. Failure to…

If pounding your head against a brick wall for 10 minutes doesn’t make you smarter, you should do it more vigorously for 20 minutes. That would indeed make you smarter according to the logical reasoning used by our “double-downing” governments. If a touted program isn’t working according to projections, increase the budget and extend the program into perpetuity. That is government double-downing. If it doesn’t work….spend more. If it hasn’t made a dent in the defined problem then extend it…